The road starts at Bold Heath on the A57 signed Clock Face (St Helens traffic continues ahead for the A570). It heads north and soon goes under the M62 to reach Clock Face, which has a 30 mph limit. Many houses here are set back on feeder roads.

The road continues through the urban sprawl to Marshall's Cross where it meets the B5419 (former A568) and east-facing B5204 at a roundabout and the road becomes dual-carriageway (although one lane in each direction is a bus lane). It goes over the Earlestown to Liverpool railway line at Lea Green station before the B5204 heads west at traffic lights. The speed limit increases to 40 mph and signs now point to St Helens.

The road now skirts the edge of the urban area, with parkland on the left. The bus lanes end just before a roundabout at Peasley Cross. The ex-A570 continued ahead but we bear left, back onto S2, to end at the next roundabout on the current route of the A570.